Day 73: An Early Christmas Miracle
December 22, 2019
Kilometers: 1782.3-1803.5
Blue Moon Backpackers in Havelock to Pelorus Bridge Campground
Late last night it wasn’t looking good for Charlie. He had all but decided that today he, and thus Peter, would hitchhike to Nelson in search of a pharmacy and doctor. This would have thrown my own plans up in limbo.
Originally, today the three of us were planning on hiking 43km to the first hut in the Richmond Range. Ada and Lizzie were planning on doing a 21km day to Pelorus Bridge and then to the first hut the next day. If Peter and Charlie were off the trail with no timetable of return I would have probably stayed at Pelorus Bridge and then pushed into the Richmond Range the next day with just Ada and Lizzie. However, I was planning to go through the mountain track two days quicker than the women, which meant I would soon be on my own.
The thought of being on my own for the first time all hike was a bit daunting. It was the hardest part of the hike and contained many treacherous obstacles. I also would have preferred to be with my friends with Christmas being just a few days away.
Luckily, we got an early Christmas miracle. Today Charlie woke up feeling much better than last night. We were all positive he would be off trail recovering for some time but he woke up with an appetite and a desire to make it to Pelorus Bridge. As the famous saying goes “the hike must go on”. Some cases of Giardia or other water borne illnesses can pass in just two to three days and it looked like that was the case for him. Stuffing him with meds all yesterday paid off.
So all five of us were set on Pelorus Bridge for the night. It was a short walk, on road and farmland to the tourist destination.
At 8am I ran to the four square to buy some more food since our itinerary to St Arnaud grew by a day. We all packed up and headed to the cafe for breakfast. I got eggs and bacon on toast. Charlie got the same and was able to keep it all down finally. We were in no rush and ended up leaving town about 10:30. The three of us guys walked together up front.
We now had food for about 8 days and so our packs were quite heavy. Here’s Charlie with his stove and a bag of chips attached to the outside of his pack because he ran out of room. What a scrub.
We started walking on highway 6 for the first 3kms. It wasn’t that bad because it had some good views next to the sound.
We then turned off onto a gravel road for the next 11kms. We went over a couple rivers but it wasn’t all that exciting. We all plugged in and listened to music as we walked.
When we reached the end of the gravel road we began Daltons Track, which was just 7kms of farmland. We spent the next hour and a half stepping over huge cow turds. There were a few cool streams we had to cross on our way as well.
At the end of the gravel track we got to a suspension bridge that goes over the Pelorus River. The river was very cool, the water was super clear.
The campsite had a cafe so we grabbed a snack before heading down to the site to set up our tents. It had showers but the water turned off every ten seconds so most of the shower was spent turning the water back on.
The three of us headed back up to the cafe and met Lizzie, Ada and another French TA hiker who just started the trail for the South Island only. We played cards for awhile.
We returned to the campsite. I headed down to the river, which ran right next to our site. The clear mountain water moved quick and swiftly. If we encountered a river like this one in the Richmond Ranges we would surely have to wait out the water level or turn around.
For dinner I just made an instant rice packet. I wasn’t very hungry due to the lack of exercise today and the snacking that went on. After the rice I polished off a big thing of cookies that I didn’t want to have to pack and carry tomorrow. Total White Sugar move.
We got in our tents around 7. I’m itching to get into the mountains and tomorrow we finally do.